Untreated severe dental decay: a neglected determinant of low Body Mass Index in 12-year-old Filipino children

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Jan Mulder¹  Wim van Palenstein Helderman¹  Bella Monse²  Martin Hobdell³  Roswitha Heinrich-Weltzien⁴  Habib Benzian⁵ 

[1] Department Global Oral Health, College of Dental Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9101, 6500, Nijmegen, HB, The Netherlands;Department of Education, Health and Nutrition Centre, P.O. Box 119, City of Division, 9000, Cagayan de Oro, Philippines;Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University College London, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT, London, UK;Department of Preventive Dentistry, Dental School of Erfurt Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, WHO Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Oral Diseases, Bachstrasse 18, 07740, Jena, Germany;Fit for School Inc., Cor. V.A. Rufino/L.P., Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City, Manila, Philippines;The Health Bureau Ltd., The Barn, MK19 7DZ, Haversham Manor, Haversham, UK;

关键词: Body Mass Index;    Normal Body Mass Index;    Early Childhood Caries;    Caries Prevalence;    Odontogenic Infection;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-558

 received in 2011-01-17, accepted in 2011-07-13,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDental decay is the most common childhood disease worldwide and most of the decay remains untreated. In the Philippines caries levels are among the highest in the South East Asian region. Elementary school children suffer from high prevalence of stunting and underweight.The present study aimed to investigate the association between untreated dental decay and Body Mass Index (BMI) among 12-year-old Filipino children.MethodsData collection was part of the National Oral Health Survey, a representative cross-sectional study of 1951 11-13-year-old school children using a modified, stratified cluster sampling design based on population classifications of the Philippine National Statistics Office. Caries was scored according to WHO criteria (1997) and odontogenic infections using the PUFA index. Anthropometric measures were performed by trained nurses. Some socio-economic determinants were included as potential confounding factors.ResultsThe overall prevalence of caries (DMFT + dmft > 0) was 82.3% (95%CI; 80.6%-84.0%). The overall prevalence of odontogenic infections due to caries (PUFA + pufa > 0) was 55.7% (95% CI; 53.5%-57.9%) The BMI of 27.1% (95%CI; 25.1%-29.1%) of children was below normal, 1% (95%CI; 0.5%-1.4%) had a BMI above normal. The regression coefficient between BMI and caries was highly significant (p < 0.001). Children with odontogenic infections (PUFA + pufa > 0) as compared to those without odontogenic infections had an increased risk of a below normal BMI (OR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.19-1.80).ConclusionsThis is the first-ever representative survey showing a significant association between caries and BMI and particularly between odontogenic infections and below normal BMI. An expanded model of hypothesised associations is presented that includes progressed forms of dental decay as a significant, yet largely neglected determinant of poor child development.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Benzian et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011